Importing from China

Bradley Roberts80 said:Look, you don't need to nitpick my every single word, we aren't here to debate semantics, haha
Anyway, I just went through that
Incoterms 2000 stuff you sent over. I was mostly just trying to get a feel for how the whole process actually flows, and honestly? It’s probably not as much of a headache as it looks at first glance
But, I guess I’d still love to chat with someone who actually knows their way around local sourcing—someone on the ground. Everyone keeps telling me the best move is to just fly out there myself, but I put that as a last resort because... I don't know, I'm not sure if paying for a flight just to order one single container makes any sense. I wouldn't be jumping in with massive quantities right away anyway; maybe start small and see if things stick, and if everything goes smoothly, then we can talk scale, right? Because let's face it, the first time you try anything, it's always the messiest part

So, if there happens to be anyone currently in China who specializes in this kind of procurement—or even just general sourcing—hit me up. Maybe we could figure something out and finally get some real clarity on how this all works

Thanks

Bradley, you can't just import containers on your own unless you have someone else setting that up for you. It's pretty straightforward: U.S. Customs won't approve an import for you as an individual; you need a registered business to handle it, and you'll need to go through a freight forwarder.
For the amount of stuff you're looking at, you shouldn't be looking at full containers anyway—you'll want to use LCL (Less than Container Load)... you aren't going to import a whole container by yourself.
As for customs and taxes, yeah, you have to pay those too. The supplier in China will give you an invoice, which you'll keep on hand, but keep in mind that Customs has every right to dispute its value, and if they do, it's on your dime.
Measure three times, cut once.

Yeah, this forum seems pretty solid. It’s really just my first step in figuring all this out, so I guess I'll need to go poke around some freight forwarders and check in with the port authorities too. I'm still not entirely sure which terminal would be the best fit for shipping these slabs, though honestly, even using a place like San Francisco probably wouldn't be a huge headache
I'll touch base in a day or two once I see what they have to say. After that, I'll probably pick the brains of you more experienced folks to see what you actually think about it all
thanks everyone, talk soon!!!

I’ve been browsing this page for a bit and I have a question.
I’m looking to order maybe one or two items, nothing over $15, from a site that claims to offer free shipping. I'd be paying via PayPal. Now, I assume since the amount is so tiny, it won't trigger any sales tax or customs issues, but I keep seeing all this talk about shipping containers and massive freight loads, so I wonder if this is even feasible—especially that free shipping part. It seems like they mostly deal in small quantities (like, you get a better deal if you grab 2 to 5 pieces or something), and they have customer reviews with videos and everything. I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to promote the site, but my college classmates say they've ordered before and just have to wait a few weeks (maybe 3 to 5 weeks). Honestly, I'd save $67

Business operations over in China are getting back into full swing starting tomorrow.
Everything is ramping up and they're officially getting back to work,
so, I figure it's time we get back to business with our own little stock market obsession too.🙂

Not China, but maybe India: THE CRAFT FAIR IN INDIA

Who:
Shah JahanShah Jahan — I first crossed paths with this man when the Chamber of Commerce invited him to speak at our first international cluster congress. He was there for the second one, too. The guy has actually built over 70 clusters during his 30-year career. He’s deeply involved in education, and he spends just as much time on humanitarian work with various non-profit organizations.

What:
In about twenty days, there's going to be a massive craft fair in Washington, D.C. (check out the products here).

How:
If you have a serious interest in placing some orders -> I'll take you to India for free

We're talking an economy class flight out of Washington, D.C., and your hotel stay is covered for the duration of the fair. All you need to handle is getting your visa sorted—business is around $1,100, tourist is $360, and bring two photos.

---
Anyway, I'm heading out there because of some other business I'm running with Shah Jahan, but I figured I'd offer this to those of you actually working in this industry. It's a good chance to head to India together. 🙂

Hi everyone,
I could use a little guidance here.

I'm just an individual buyer, and I found a decent inflatable tent online from a supplier in China. I reached out to ask about shipping it to the port in San Francisco, and this was their response:
Material: 0.6mm PVC Tarpaulin for the bottom, and 0.55mm PVC Tarpaulin for other parts.
Size: 12*7*1m
MOQ: 1 piece
Unit price: USD1798, including blower.
We will provide blower, ground mat, repair kits.
The ocean freight is USD465.

And our order process is as bellows:
1. confirm the items what you need, including size, color, quantity, material, etc. and then, we will send proforma invoice to you.
2. pay the deposit, and start to product the goods.
3. we will take photos for your confirmation after we finish the goods.
4. deliver the goods after we get the balance.

What I'm struggling to wrap my head around is the math at the border. When I deal with US Customs, am I looking at a 23% tax based on the combined total of $1798 + $465?

Besides that initial $1798 plus the $465 shipping, are there any other hidden fees I'll owe the Chinese supplier?

And once it hits the States, is there anything else I have to cough up besides that 23% tax?

Thanks in advance for the help...

...
While you might not have any direct costs to pay the Chinese suppliers themselves, you’re still going to be hit with shipping fees and customs duties once everything arrives here in the States. And if you're importing via sea freight, you have to account for those various manipulative handling fees at the port in San Francisco... it can really add up. You also need to be extremely careful with companies that claim to be manufacturers—there are so many out there that aren't actually producing anything at all. They act as mere middlemen while advertising themselves as full-scale factories, and honestly, there are quite a few scammers in the mix
. They'll lure you in with an incredibly low quote, only to either ship you substandard junk or try to squeeze more money out of you after the fact—claiming things like "unforeseen logistical expenses" or similar excuses. It's a common tactic. There's also the issue of material quality; most of these sellers aren't being honest about what they're using and will often try to pass off inferior materials as premium grade
.
And please, don't take their delivery timelines at face value...
I personally work with two established factories in China that specialize in inflatable products and have been my partners for a long time. If you're looking for some reliable leads, feel free to send me a PM with your email address or phone number
.

Joseph Martin4 said:Hi everyone,
I could use a little guidance here.

I'm just an individual buyer, and I found a decent inflatable tent online from a supplier in China. I reached out to ask about shipping it to the port in San Francisco, and this was their response:
Material: 0.6mm PVC Tarpaulin for the bottom, and 0.55mm PVC Tarpaulin for other parts.
Size: 12*7*1m
MOQ: 1 piece
Unit price: USD1798, including blower.
We will provide blower, ground mat, repair kits.
The ocean freight is USD465.

And our order process is as bellows:
1. confirm the items what you need, including size, color, quantity, material, etc. and then, we will send proforma invoice to you.
2. pay the deposit, and start to product the goods.
3. we will take photos for your confirmation after we finish the goods.
4. deliver the goods after we get the balance.

What I'm struggling to wrap my head around is the math at the border. When I deal with US Customs, am I looking at a 23% tax based on the combined total of $1798 + $465?

Besides that initial $1798 plus the $465 shipping, are there any other hidden fees I'll owe the Chinese supplier?

And once it hits the States, is there anything else I have to cough up besides that 23% tax?

Thanks in advance for the help...

Jesus, $465 just for ocean freight on one single inflatable tent????😲😲

fadedwolf81 said:Jesus, $465 just for ocean freight on one single inflatable tent????😲😲

Shipping costs have absolutely skyrocketed recently—we’re looking at a massive 300% jump... It seems like the major carriers have intentionally pulled a huge chunk of container capacity out of circulation, essentially engineering a shortage just to drive up the rates. It's a calculated move, really. And if current trends hold, we should probably brace ourselves for even more price hikes coming later this month...

So, I was recently out in China and managed to land some solid business connections... now I have a few questions—I’d like to get my ducks in a row before moving forward—specifically regarding transport? I'm talking about shipping containers.
What’s the smallest size available, what kind of pricing are we looking at, and what's the typical transit time?
Thanks in advance...

Raymond Murphy3 said:So, I was recently out in China and managed to land some solid business connections... now I have a few questions—I’d like to get my ducks in a row before moving forward—specifically regarding transport? I'm talking about shipping containers.
What’s the smallest size available, what kind of pricing are we looking at, and what's the typical transit time?
Thanks in advance...

The smallest standard unit is 20 feet... coming from the Port of Qingdao (near Beijing)... current rates are hovering around $2,400 USD... and you're looking at roughly 28 days for transit.

wiredcrane13, thanks for the input...
I was reading somewhere that there are companies out there—basically consolidators—that group together several smaller importers who don't have enough inventory to fill an entire container, allowing them to pool their goods and manage a joint shipment.
Does anyone here actually have hands-on experience with this kind of thing? I'm curious about the cost structures and how it all plays out in practice.
Also, regarding that 20-foot container—what’s the actual cubic capacity on that?

Raymond Murphy3 said:wiredcrane13, thanks for the input...
I was reading somewhere that there are companies out there—basically consolidators—that group together several smaller importers who don't have enough inventory to fill an entire container, allowing them to pool their goods and manage a joint shipment.
Does anyone here actually have hands-on experience with this kind of thing? I'm curious about the cost structures and how it all plays out in practice.
Also, regarding that 20-foot container—what’s the actual cubic capacity on that?

Well, that’s actually the core business of a freight forwarder—it's called LCL (Less than Container Load) shipping.
If I recall correctly, a small 20-foot container usually sits around 34 cubic meters.

fadedwolf81 said:Well, that’s actually the core business of a freight forwarder—it's called LCL (Less than Container Load) shipping.
If I recall correctly, a small 20-foot container usually sits around 34 cubic meters.

And just how many days does the transit actually take?

Raymond Murphy3 said:And just how many days does the transit actually take?

The transit itself follows the exact same timeline as a standard container. The only real difference—and this is where things can slow down—is that with LCL (Less than Container Load) shipping, you have to wait for the shared container to be fully loaded first... which usually adds about two weeks to the process, depending entirely on your freight forwarder or carrier. So, essentially, you're looking at four weeks for the journey plus those extra two weeks for consolidation.
If anyone is interested in having me handle the logistics and organization for this shipment, feel free to send me a private message.

I’ve got a few imports coming in from China soon—once things are finalized, I'll reach out to you all, and perhaps we can actually strike a deal...
Right now, I have an urgent shipment arriving in about 15 days; the total volume isn't massive—under 1 million cubic units...
What I really need to know is if anyone has experience finding affordable air freight... does anyone have any leads?

Raymond Murphy3 said:I’ve got a few imports coming in from China soon—once things are finalized, I'll reach out to you all, and perhaps we can actually strike a deal...
Right now, I have an urgent shipment arriving in about 15 days; the total volume isn't massive—under 1 million cubic units...
What I really need to know is if anyone has experience finding affordable air freight... does anyone have any leads?

It really depends on which carrier you go with. Some airlines switch you over to cargo rates once the weight hits 35kg—roughly 77 pounds—while others don't trigger that until you hit 50kg, or about 110 pounds. If you qualify for those cargo rates, you're looking at somewhere between $7 and $10 per kilo...
But if you don't hit those specific weight thresholds? Well, the prices become absolutely astronomical.

From what I’ve gathered, air freight rates—at least when you're working with Chinese forwarders—are sitting somewhere around $3.80 per kilo.

fadedwolf81 said:From what I’ve gathered, air freight rates—at least when you're working with Chinese forwarders—are sitting somewhere around $3.80 per kilo.

The figure I mentioned was from over a year ago... and even then, it was just a rough estimate... it’s entirely possible those rates have shifted since then.

Jack Jones6 said:What exactly can I help you with? I’ve been navigating this market for nearly three years now, so I have a decent handle on how things move.

Can you help me out with importing from China? Hit me up at gr.rengel@gmail.com